Mute
by Electric Indigo
Summary: "I notice that it is getting late and go through the music one more time, loving it's absolute perfection. This must be my best song yet. It is beautiful. If only I could hear it."
1. Prologue I

**A/N: I feel really bad about having to take off my other story, "Drowning". It will come back on eventually, but I have not been very inspired for it lately and I also want to fix some things in the first few chapters. I have only written 4 prologues yet for this story. (Lol, a lot of Prologues) but I'm going to need some ideas for what to do for Chapter 1. You'll see what I'm talking about later.**

**This story is inspired by Beethoven. I went to a symphony a few days ago and it was just wonderful and really inspiring. Don't worry, I won't be taking this story down, too! Sorry for the long Author's Note.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. But I do own the idea. Well, not quite. If I owned the whole idea I would own Beethoven. Which I don't by the way.**

Prologue I

Blaine POV

I watch my fingers flow swiftly across ebony and ivory, well, the keys. Every once in a while I take a small break to write something down on the papers in front of me. I yawn and rub some sleep out of my hazel eyes. School-work is overpowering me. Especially history, as Mrs. Wilson talks way too fast. I look at a complicated arrangement of notes and jot down some fingering.

I feel uninspired and take a moment to just breathe a little. It's 4:30 pm and I'm in the music room, by myself. I have a piano at home, but sometimes I just like a change of atmosphere. I watch the trees blowing in the wind outside and find a little inspiration, quickly writing down some notes.

I write down the main part of the song again for the end. It looks alright, so I start to play. It definitely gives a different feel than my other songs, this one being very smooth and flowing perfectly. I hear the music in my soul as I play the keys. The alberti base, quiet and nimble played by my left hand and the melody, strong and slow in my right.

I notice that it is getting late and go through the music one more time, loving it's absolute perfection. This must be my best song yet. It is beautiful. If only I could hear it.

**A/N: Reviews encourage me to keep going!**


	2. Prologue II

**Lol, I love how when you don't have any hits and the "number of hits" chart goes 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 0.12, 0.15... fanfiction took forever to put my story up so I was staring at that for a very unproductive thirty minutes. Here's a little bit from Kurt's POV before we get into Blaine's past.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. But I do own Mr. Hall!**

Prologue II

Kurt POV

Detention. Really? For talking back to Mr. Schue so we could do a Britney song? I walk out of the classroom, relieved. Detention is horrible. Especially with the most strict and boring teacher in the school. Mr. Hall just stared at me the whole time. For 2 hours. I notice that I've left my books in the class and I start to head back when I hear something.

The soft sound of piano is coming from down the hall. Curiosity wins me over as I quietly walk down the hall towards the sound. The music is beautiful and perfectly played. I look into the music room, glad that the piano isn't facing my direction. Surprised, I see the quiet boy in my math class. Blaine, I think his name is. I notice that the sheet music is hand-written. It must be his own work. He is also playing with remarkable speed. He must have been playing piano for a long time.

I am tempted to clap when he finishes but immediately stop myself. I glance once more at him before walking back to my car. But, for days after that, I'd stay a few minutes after school to listen to the mysterious boy.


	3. Prologue III

**A/N: Yay, finally a longer prologue! The chapters will be much longer than these prologues, trust me. But they will not be updated as frequently, obviously. I do have a life... but I honestly prefer to live in my imagination. Reviews are like cherry pie- first thing that came to my mind.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. I do own... a digital clock, I guess.**

Prologue III

Blaine POV

_2 years earlier_

My hearing had worsened as I got older, but I hadn't expected to wake up one day and not hear anything at all.

I woke up and rolled my head over so that it was facing the digital clock. 7:15. I jump out of bed. My alarm must have not gone off. As I walk down the hall something feels weird. It's strangely silent.

I find my mom in the kitchen and I see her move her lips in a way like saying "Good Morning", but I don't hear anything. I say it back but don't even hear my own voice. I pinch myself and wince. I bite my lip as I watch my mom's lips continue to move but nothing. No sound is coming from them at all.

"Mom", I say. I think my voice went up a little too high at the end but can't tell for sure.

Her lips move again at what looks like a "yes."

"I can't... I can't hear anything", I say. My mom looks at me, confused.

"What?", she mouths.

"I can't hear anything", I repeat. Her mouth says something rapidly but I can't identify what she's saying.

"I don't know what you just said", I say, honestly. She looks at me, worriedly.

As she says something next, I pick out a few words. "Not", "Joking", "Right", and "Blaine."

I shake my head.

**MUTEMUTEMUTEMUTEMUTE**

The doctor does some various tests on my ears. My mother looks rather worried but my father seems looks like he's complaining about something. Missing work, I think. I wonder if he thinks I'm joking.

The doctor comes back in. He looks like he's feeling bad about something. Oh, no.

**MUTEMUTEMUTEMUTEMUTE**

3rd person POV

"Well?", Blaine's mother asks.

"It seems that Blaine has Sensorineural Deafness", he says, sighing.

"So he can't hear at all?", his father asks, looking pretty shocked.

"No", the doctor says.

"Well, it can be treated, right?", his mother asks.

The doctor looks sad again. "No", the doctor says.

**MUTEMUTEMUTEMUTE**

Blaine POV

Mom starts crying.

"What's... what's wrong?", I ask, having been unable to tell what most of that conversation had been about. Mom looks like she's going to tell me something, but then, remembering that I can't hear her just continues crying. I turn to my father. His eyes look a little watery, too, and all I want to know is what's going on. The doctor looks at me pityingly, then hands me a sheet of paper.

It's about my diagnoses. Sensorineural Deafness. And it can't be treated.


	4. Prologue IV

**A/N: So after this Prologue, please give me some ideas for Chapter 1. I've got some, but if would probably be a lot better with some people's opinions! Chapter 1 is going back to maybe a few months after where Prologue I left off. So, be sure to review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. I do own a piano, and keyboard, and the other type of keyboard or I would not be able to write this!**

Prologue IV

Blaine POV

_6 months after Prologue III_

I watch as my teacher talks rapidly to me (in sign language of course). I still prefer simply lip-reading as I am fairly decent at it already. My parents said that I had to learn sign language, though, so I reluctantly got a tutor. I'm adjusting okay, but, oh how I wish I could hear again. And I probably always will. I miss the sound of people's voices, and even though I know deep inside I know what their voices sound like perfectly well, sometimes I feel like I forget. But most of all, I miss music. I can listen to the vibrations from my mp3 but it's simply not the same.

An hour later, I sit on my piano bench, staring at the keys and throwing a private pity party. I've played piano since... well... I can't remember a time when I wasn't. Except for the last 6 months. What was the use? I reminisce the way the piano used to sound like and a melody pops up in my head. I play it, imaging exactly what the notes would sound like. For a while, I feel complete again. Playing it is almost... like a drug. It doesn't solve any of my problems, but for that moment everything feels okay.

I sense the presence of someone and stop playing to turn and face my mother.

"H-how did you do that?", she asks. I face her, befuddled.

"Do what?", I ask. My mom has always said I don't have a deaf voice, but I don't know if that's the truth or not.

"You got your hearing back?", she asks, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Something makes me feel like lying. It's when I say the next word that I finally actually know what it feels like to burst someone's bubble.

"No", I say back, looking at my hand for a while, which is laying over the side of the piano bench.

"Then how did you play piano?", she asks.

"I can remember what it sounds like", I say, shrugging my shoulders, "I was actually decent?"

She hesitates, "You were better than decent. That looked quite complicated for something you're imagining in your head."

"If I could hear, I don't know why I'd be lying to you about it", I say. She nods slowly, then goes back up the stairs.


	5. Chapter I

**A/N: Mr. Hall cracks me up. I thank everyone for your alerts and favourites and xBleedingBlackRosesx for your wonderful ideas. I used your excerpt. I tried to make it not look too noticeable when it changed to it but I tend to use the same words all the time so it probably is a little bit. Honestly, the way this chapter ended is not how I originally planned, but I thought it was a little bit more realistic. This chapter is in 3rd person and I probably did a horrific job, but I just wanted to get everybody's thoughts in, so I hope you stay with me. Hopefully, the next chapter will be within my comfort zone of 1st person again. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. I do own the answer to the "complicated equation" in this chapter, though. Yet I don't know what the complicated equation even is.**

Chapter I

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap._

Kurt fingers the pencil between his fingers so it starts tapping against the desk rapidly. Mr. Hall looks over at the class for a second, searching for the culprit. He then goes back to writing some sort of complicated equation on the board. Kurt starts tapping his pencil against his desk again. Nobody seems to care because it is at least a distraction. He obviously knew that drumming his pencil against the desk was awfully risky, but the annoyed look on Mr. Hall's face was worth it.

_Tap, tap, tap-_ He stops immediately when Mr. Hall turns around quickly and slams both his fists on his desk, his moustache twitching. Kurt gulps silently and quietly puts his pencil back in his desk. Afraid he's going to start on his habit again, he looks around the room for something to concentrate on. He looks at the board for about 5 minutes, trying to figure out what it's about. Because he wasn't really paying any attention for the whole lesson, his head starts to hurt and he glances around quickly. Brittany is drawing several hearts around the outside of her work page and he spends a few minutes wondering how she made it into grade 11.

As he looks around again, his eyes fall on Blaine, who is quickly writing notes down. Blaine maintains eye contact with the teacher as Mr. Hall says something about 169, unbeknownst to Kurt. Kurt is busy watching Blaine's hands, and gazing at his familiar scribbly hand-writing.

"Mr. Hummel." Kurt's eyes instantly direct back to the teacher, wide and round.

"Can you answer this equation for me?", Mr. Hall says, smirking slightly. Kurt clears his throat nervously.

"2?", he says, stupidly.

"Actually, the answer was 169", the teacher says, "But you weren't very far off!" Mr. Hall smiles sinisterly. Snickers are heard around the classroom, and Kurt hides behind his textbook, ashamed. Thankfully, the class is over soon after and he races out.

Kurt hides around the hallway by the music room, the opposite way from where Blaine comes on Thursday. Mentally slapping himself for being such a stalker, he sits down against the wall and texts his dad. Today he planned on confronting Blaine, because he thought it was pretty weird of himself to hardly know Blaine and stay for a few minutes after school every day to listen to him play.

_Going to be late. Extra glee practice._

He watches Blaine walk into the music room and waits a few minutes. Blaine plays part of a song that he is working on writing when it suddenly stops. Kurt peeks inside and sees that Blaine is puzzling over something that he's written down. Kurt slowly steps inside.

"That's a very nice song", Kurt says, taking a few more steps in. He waits for a while but Blaine doesn't reply. Looking at Blaine quizically, Kurt walks over to behind him. Blaine suddenly knows someone is in the room. And that someone is very close to him. He jumps up, startled, and faces Kurt.

"Oh, sorry!" Kurt apologizes quickly. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I just...I just wanted to say that you're a magnificent pianist. I haven't heard anything that beautiful in...well, ever." He laughs nervously. The boy's eyes are wide, locked on his face very intently. It makes him blush, unused to this level of direct attention.

Of course, Blaine wass only staring at him because he was trying to concentrate on his lips, to understand what he was saying. Surely he'd misunderstood...Was he seriously there to compliment him? He's never talked to this tall, slender boy before in his life, although he'd noticed him quite a few times in the hallway. He always wore the strangest - yet flattering - outfits.

"I- Thank you very much," he finally finds his own voice, desperately hoping he did not talk too loudly or sound stupid.

"I'm Kurt", the boy says.

"Blaine", he says back.

Kurt sits down beside him carefully, and plays some notes, looking like he's playing some of Blaine's music. He stops and Blaine's eyes dart back to his face in case he says something.

"How do you play trills so fast?", Kurt asks, still trying to feather two keys with his fingers.

"Practice", Blaine says, worrying that he popped the "p" a little bit too much. Kurt just laughs a little.

"Yeah", Kurt says, "You take lessons?"

Blaine shakes his head and inches his hands closer to a more comfortable position on his lap instead of gripping the edges of the bench stiffly.

"That's amazing", Kurt says, "I used to take lessons. My playing was fine, but not brilliant."

"Brilliant?", Blaine asks.

"Well, the song you just played certainly was", he says. Blaine ignores the compliment, because he could very well just be hoping that Kurt would say that and would envisage it.

"So you wrote it?" Kurt questions. Blaine nods shyly.

"You wrote the other songs, too?", he asks. Blaine nods again, not quite looking at Kurt. Blaine thinks of something and his eyes focus back on him.

"Have you been spying on me?", Blaine asks accusingly.

"Um, no", Kurt says quickly, kind of intimidated by Blaine's direct stare. He wanted to ask about why he did that but found it would be pretty bounderish and Blaine seemed to stare like that at other people too. It might just be a thing he does naturally.

"Well, I'll just let you be", Kurt says, starting to stand up, "You seem pretty busy." Blaine, unsure of how he should respond, doesn't do anything. Kurt gets up, and leaves uncomfortably.

Blaine watches as the boy leaves. He has never really had much interaction with peers and probably just made a horrible first impression. Someone actually complimented him and was really nice and he just scared them off. In middle school, he had many friends and was an extrovert. The summer before Grade 9 he lost his hearing. From then on, Blaine preferred to just make it through high school. No one bothered talking to him anyway. It might as well stay that way.


	6. Chapter II

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I was just really busy and no plot-bunnies were attacking me. They finally have, though. Before Blaine admits that he's deaf to Kurt, I wanted a little bit of them actually becoming friends and getting to know each other. But just to let you know, he'll probably admit it next chapter. In Blaine's POV, yes it does always say "says" instead of "mouths" because it's just easier, but It's not like Blaine can hear now, FYI. :p**

Chapter II

Blaine POV

The next day, I am back to my usual routine of going to the music room and practising. Noticing someone is in the room, I look around my shoulder and stop playing.

"I thought I would actually come in instead of just listening from behind the door this time", Kurt says, twiddling his fingers. I didn't think he'd come back, and I'm pretty happy, yet very nervous about someone watching me play. I nod a little before going back to my music, watching his lips in my side-vision.

"No one seems to know who you are in glee club. I'm surprised", he says.

"Yeah...", I say, "I don't really make a spectacle of myself."

"So I assume you wouldn't want to do glee club?", he asks. Was that- sort of- asking me to be in glee club? I guess they're desperate, but it's still a compliment.

"I'm not even that great at singing", I say, continuing to play.

"Really? Your voice is pretty. I'd assume you'd be good", he says. I look at him now, kind of confused, yet assuming I heard wrong. He is blushing. Maybe I heard right. That was strange, though.

"Thanks", I say, unwieldy. I see that I have stopped playing and go back to it, timidly holding my head down a little lower.

"Can we say that we're almost-friends now?", Kurt asks. I try to hide a laughing smile as he says that. I currently don't have any almost-friends.

"Sure", I say, accidentally letting out a little laugh with it.

"What? Is there something funny about me being your almost-friend?", Kurt asks, pretending to be offended with his arms on his hips.

"Well, actually, yes", I say, "Do you often have almost-friends?"

"No", Kurt says after thinking for a bit, "You must be pretty special, then."

"Must be", I say.

"So... are we going out for coffee later, then?", Kurt asks, "As almost-friends?"

"Guess so", I say, feeling like I could smile so wide it would break my face.

**MUTEMUTEMUTEMUTEMUTE**

"Dah! Just think of something you like that I don't already! This is freaking me out!", Kurt says as we sit at our table at the Lima Bean.

I smirk. "Football", I say.

"Finally!", Kurt breathes out, "My almost-step-brother likes football, too. He's on the team."

"You sure have a lot of "almost-something or rather"s", I mumble, but then look at Kurt again and say, "Well, I follow football. Don't actually play it, though. Besides throwing a football around, but I don't think that counts."

"Nah, I don't think you could get on the team for throwing a football around. I got on it for kicking a football, though", Kurt says.

I almost choke on my coffee. "You were on the football team!", I ask.

"Well, as kicker. I was actually purportedly really good, though", Kurt says.

"Any techniques?", I ask, curious.

Kurt grits his teeth. "I'd rather not say", he says.

"Um, okay then", I say, wondering what his techniques could possibly be, "Who's your... almost-step-brother?"

"Finn", he says, "He's also in glee. He'd hate you."

"Why do you think that?", I ask, stunned.

"A feeling", Kurt says.

Unbelieving, I question, "Just a feeling?"

"He also doesn't really have a thing for midgets", Kurt says, smirking. This is one of those times that most people wouldn't appreciate someone's quick wit.

"I'm not that short!", I say, irritated.

Kurt makes a "pfft" sound and says, "Yeah, you are."

After a few seconds, Kurt says: "Aw, don't look like such a lost puppy. I used to be short... but then I grew... and probably soon there will be an even greater height difference between us."

"That doesn't make me feel any better", I say, actually slightly amused.

"Bet it doesn't", Kurt says, then pauses, looking a little below my head. "Do you have a thing for bow-ties?", he asks.

"I guess I like bow-ties", I say.

Kurt mutters under his breath, and it looks like he's saying, "that's adorable."

"Blaine, are you...", Kurt quiets a little, "...gay?"

I look him straight in the eyes and nod. "I don't really shout it to the heavens, but I'd never lie about it", I say. Kurt seems to have... a smile creeping up on his face?

"Good, cause my gay-dar was going off like crazy. The football thing kind of threw me off, though", he says.

"Didn't you play football?", I ask.

"Yes, but that was- different", Kurt says, finishing his coffee.

"Well, we should get going", he says. We walk out of the Lima Bean, a little more comfortably close than before.


	7. Chapter III

**A/N: Thanks for the favourites and many, many alerts! I'm writing in Blaine's POV again. I think this story will actually mostly be in Blaine's POV. But, I'll have at least a couple of Kurt's, and maybe some others. This chapter actually came out better than expected. It's a little short, but I _did_ update quite fast. Anyway, reviews are, well, great, and I always love ideas!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the characters or anything. They belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. I do own my pen name, though, which I am pretty darn proud of.**

Chapter III

Blaine POV

It has been 2 months since Kurt first actually went in and talked to me. We only seem to hang out in the music room after school, and I don't know too much about Kurt's friends. So, in a way, I guess I'm not even quite his friend yet, but I am completely satisfied with the small amount of company he brings.

"Kurt", I say, one day as we are sitting on the floor in the music room, talking.

"Yes?", he asks, sweeping the dust into a small pile with a slither of wood he found on the ground.

"You're in glee club and I was wondering...", I start but am not quite sure how to finish my sentence.

"Go on", Kurt says.

"Do you sing?", I ask, immediately after thinking it was a stupid question.

"Yes, yes I do sing. But what an interesting question that is, Blaine!", Kurt says, sarcastically.

"Counter-tenor?", I ask, solely off instincts.

"Actually, yes", Kurt says, "How would you know?"

"Eh, I guessed", I say, not very surprised I was right. It would be quite hard to imagine Kurt singing low.

"What? Is it because of my voice being so high-pitched?" Kurt asks, a little insulted.

"No!", I say quickly and truthfully. But, I make sure to put it into my head that Kurt's voice is a little bit on the high-side, "That's awesome, I haven't met many true counter-tenors."

"Yeah, I guess they're pretty rare", Kurt says.

"Well, will you sing for me?", I ask, "You talk about singing in glee all the time, but I've never actually heard you." If Kurt said yes, I deep inside knew that I wouldn't be able to hear him anyway, but I just really wanted to at least _see_ him sing.

Kurt pauses. "Sure, why not?", he says. He walks over to the piano and I sit next to him on the bench. He half-smiles at me before playing a tune on the piano. I watch his mouth and the keys on the piano played and almost instantly recognize the song. I've listened to the Beatles a lot before I lost my hearing.

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night_

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly_

_All your life_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise_

I clap at the end. "That was amazing", I say, even though I didn't really hear it. It did look amazing, though. Kurt mutters a "thank you".

I find an odd surge of courage and say, "Kurt, I need to- admit something."

Kurt seems a little lost, but then says, "Okay."

"Ican'thearanything", I mumble.

"Huh?", Kurt asks.

"Nothing", I say, realizing that I have lost my courage once more.

Kurt must have noticed the repetitive failed attempts at me admitting something and says, looking kindly into my eyes: "You can tell me anything."

"You won't tell anyone else, right?", I ask cautiously.

"Of course not", Kurt says.

I take a deep breath and say, a little bit quietly, "I can't hear anything."

"You can't... hear anything?", Kurt asks, a little bit confused.

"No, I can't", I say, looking shyly off to the side, "It's kind of like, being deaf, but it isn't"

"It's kind of like being deaf but it isn't?", Kurt asks, a small smile playing at his lips, "Blaine, what are you trying to get at here?"

"Well, I guess you can say that... I am deaf but... if I said exactly that, it would mean that I would never hear again", I say, sadly.

"You're... you're telling the truth?", Kurt asks, concerned.

I nod shakily, on the verge of tears. Kurt seems a little shocked for a moment, but then recovers himself and looks at me lamentably.

"Aw, Blaine", Kurt says, wrapping his arms around me in a hug, "It's okay." I let a few tears fall while out of Kurt's vision.

"But, how can you-", Kurt starts. I know what he's asking even though I can't see his lips.

"I can remember what the piano sounds like", I answer before he can finish the sentence, then continue to watch his face if he asks another question.

"But also, how can you-", Kurt starts again.

"I can read lips", I answer again and before Kurt can ask another question, I say, "No, I didn't hear you singing, but I imagined you must be really great." Kurt seems to notice that my eyes are watery and pulls me back into a hug, continually going, "Shh, shh, It's okay."

"No, it's not", I eventually say, pulling back a little again so I can see his face.

"And I'm wrong about that whole stupid "not being deaf" thing, aren't I? Why am I saying that I'm not deaf when the doctor clearly stated I am? I'll never get my hearing back, it's hopeless. And I know that." I don't expect Kurt to disagree with that, as all that I just said was completely factual, but can't help feeling a pang of sorrow when he doesn't respond.


	8. Chapter IV

**A/N: I'm sorry for the short chapter after a week-long break. I probably could have written more, but I just like the way this ends. A happy ending to a chapter!**

Chapter IV

Kurt POV

I sit on my bed and let my many thoughts swarm my mind. I can't believe Blaine is deaf. He copes so well, but earlier today, he just looked so depressed. I wonder how he kept it all in for so long. I guess part of it is that he kept telling himself that he'd be able to hear again someday. But, during his breakdown he knew he wouldn't. I get up off my bed and pace my room, worried. He would be over that by now, right?

It would be silly to run over to someones house at 8 p.m. uninvited. Should I talk this over with Mercedes? Soon after thinking that, I realize that she doesn't even know anything about Blaine. I suddenly feel really bad that I was always, well, ashamed of Blaine. I like him and all, but I always thought that my friends would think he was a little weird. Looking around, I notice that I'm unintentionally walking to the door. I would never be able to sleep tonight without seeing Blaine. Giving in, I grab my coat and jog to my car. Quickly wracking my brain to remember the address Blaine told me, I start my GPS.

Later, I arrive at a small, homey brown house. I wonder why I'm even doing this while I ring the doorbell. It isn't long before I'm greeted by a friendly-looking women with hazel eyes like Blaine's.

"Um, is Blaine here?", I ask, stepping back and forth between my feet on the spot, anxiously.

"Are you Kurt?", she asks, studying me. I nod.

"It's nice to finally meet you", she says, "You do realize it's a little late?"

"Yes", I say, "But Blaine kind of had... a breakdown today and I was wondering if he was okay?"

"He did?", she asks, solicitously.

"Yea, he told me he was-", I start.

"He's in his room. Through that hallway", she says, gesturing towards a hallway on the left, "Third door on the right."

I walk over to the room and peek in. Blaine is sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at the wall. His face has a blank expression except for his eyes, which are a little sad.

I walk over and kneel down next to him. He sees me and after the half-second shock of me being there, goes back to having a neutral expression.

"Hey", I say, softly.

"Hey", he says back after a while.

"Are you okay?", I ask.

"Fine", he says, looking back at the wall.

"If you're okay, why would you be staring at the wall?", I ask, knowing he wouldn't hear it.

After a few minutes, he says, "Why me?"

"Why you what?", I ask, unsure of what he is trying to get at.

"Why did I have to become deaf?", he asks, looking intently at my face.

"Everyone needs an obstacle in their life", I say after a while.

He immediately answers afterwards, like he was prepared for what I just said, "Yeah, well I have _tons_ of obstacles!"

"Then you must be very special", I say as soon as he finishes.

He glances back at the wall. Then stares back at me. "What?"

"Only people with the greatest abilities have lots of obstacles to overcome. Obstacles give life a purpose. If we didn't have them, you would be living the dream right now. But if you have something to work past, when someday you're living the dream, you will actually feel a sense of achievement", I say, afterwards wondering where that came from. Probably from the many times I've asked myself that question.

"But what if I don't work for it?", he asks, after a minute or so inside his head.

"Then you don't achieve anything", I say, simply. "People who don't have many obstacles to overcome, they'll have a pretty good life, but it won't be horrible nor amazing. You can make your life amazing. But, Blaine, it won't do you any good staring at that wall." He then smiles, actually coming to his eyes, and surprisingly, hugs me.

"Thank you", he says.


End file.
